The present invention is directed to feed-through and stand-alone type junction blocks that are commonly found in automotive or other applications to connect electrical systems to a power supply or to ground.
Junction blocks are commonly used in construction, military, and other heavy-duty vehicles having multiple electrical systems. Such junction blocks typically include a unitary post and body construction wherein a pair of posts are integrally formed with the body from a single piece of material. Constructions of this type typically result in a great deal of waste as the entire amount of material from the outside of the body to the post must be removed in order to produce the resulting junction block.
Further, such constructions require that the posts and body be formed of the same material. Such a construction is disadvantageous because the body and the posts serve different functions in the junction block assembly. In particular, the conductive material that is desired for use with the body is not optimal for use in the posts. For instance, the body of the junction blocks is preferably constructed from a highly conductive material such as brass. However, highly conductive materials such as brass are not necessarily well suited to function as a strong connection means, e.g. a threaded connection. As such, junction blocks of the prior art made from brass typically require relatively long threaded posts and mating nuts, due to the brittleness of brass, which provides a greater surface area contact of nuts on the posts.
Thus, a junction block assembly that reduces waste and provides a high conductive assembly while maintaining a relatively robust construction is desired.